Based on Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon.
Title: Training Camp
Author: Daine Artillo
E-mail: atia@crosswinds.net
Rating: G
Chapter IV: The Earth Kingdom's Ball
Part Two
"May I have this dance?"
Serena turned around to see a young man with short
blond hair. He extended his hand as she took it
gracefully. They started to dance to the gentle
melody that played. Serena examined his face
closely, trying to see through his mask.
Jedite marveled at the grace and beauty of his
dancing partner.
Jedite examined the girl more closely. he spun the girl
gently around.
~*~*~*~
Endymion glance over toward Jedite.
Endymion thought
amusidly. For safety reasons, Endymion knew who his
generals were, as they knew who he was. A
ball would be the perfect time for an attack.
He marveled at the grace of the girl that Jedite danced
with. Sipping his punch, the Prince made a mental note
of the young lady's hair style.
Putting his punch cup down, he walked
over toward the two as the dance ended.
~*~*~*~
As the music faded, Jedite kissed Serena's gloved hand
gently.
"Thank you, m'lady."
"You're most welcome," she replied with a small smile.
"May I have this dance, fair lady?"
Serena turned around to see a young man with ebony black
hair. He wore a white mask, through which she could see
a hint of his stormy blue eyes.
Jedite, catching Endymion's eyes, gave him an encouraging
grin and left the two to dance.
Going to the dancefloor again, Serena danced unknowingly
with Endymion. Jedite smiled.
~*~*~*~
Serena looked at her partner and noted his good looks.
Endymion observed his dancing partner, trying to figure
out who she was.
His mind suddenly became cloudy, and he
shook his head slightly to clear it.
Serena noticed the movement and questioned him, "Is
something wrong?"
"No. My mind just got a little cloudy..." He smiled to
prove his words. Serena looked at him unbelievingly.
Serena bit her bottom
lip, wondering what to do.
"C'mon, you're not okay."
Endymion, now in a state of dizzyness, felt too sick to
argue. He followed the girl's urgent tugging toward the
gardens.
~*~*~*~
Jedite, after watching the other couples dance, turned
to see His Majesty and the mystery girl again. Not
seeing where they had been once, he frowned.
Glancing toward the entry way, he saw the girl gently
leading Endymion toward the gardens. Immediately
suspecious, Jedite followed the two.
~*~*~*~
Serena finally found a bench among the many pathways of the
garden and helped the Prince lay down upon it. Taking off
her thick gloves, she put them under Endymion's head to
cushion it against the hard marble.
Endymion felt a vauge sensation of laying down on something
hard and cold.
he thought sickly. His mind
loosing all consciencness, he lost the remaining
part of his thought.
Serena took out her hankerchief and dipped it in the cool
springs that watered the many flowers. Ringing it out,
she began to delicately wipe it across the young man's face.
With gentle fingers, Serena reached up her hand to remove
the mask, to see the face of...
"Endymion!" Serena said, hardly above a whisper.
She gasped, suffering from a double shock.
Looking down at his face, she couldn't help but feel
sorry for him. His face was slightly twisted in a
pained expression.
Lifting up his eyelids, Serena saw that they were
indeed different sizes. Despite the situation, Serena
smiled slightly. She had managed to hit him
pretty hard on the head this morning during training.
Shaking her head to get back to the matter at hand,
she thought of possible cures for a bump on the head.
Forgetting she had her mask on, Serena concentrated.
The crescent moon on her forehead began to glow brightly
as she leaned over to begin the healing process with
Endymion.
Out of her symbol came a beam of light that burned the
mask she wore and connected to the middle of Endymion's
forehead. His own symbol appeared-the symbol of the Earth.
Going even deeper, Serena fiercely kept her mind from
all other thoughts as she healed Endymion from his injury.
As the process came to an end, the light beam slowly faded
as her link to him ended. All that remained was the
symbol of Earth on Endymion's forehead, and even that was
fading fast.
~*~*~*~
"Endymion!" Jedite shouted, "Where are you?"
He wandered throught the many paths of the garden, trying to
track the path of his Prince and of the mystery girl. Turning
around a sharp bend, he saw the girl next to the Prince on the
bench. Feeling relief and anger at the same time, he approached
the two.
"There you are!" Jedite said, his voice full of authority.
"What were you doing, Miss?"
"I have done nothing wrong!" Serena replied hotly. "He
became sick, so I led him out here for some fresh air, only
to discover he is the Earth Prince!"
Jedite could not help but notice the tone of resentment in
her voice as she spoke of the Prince.
"And just *who* are you?"
"That's not the main concern right now. His majesty is
ill, and I suggest you take him to the palace healer."
Serena said.
"No, I will not go until I know who you are!" Jedite looked
quickly at the Earth Prince. He saw what was wrong almost
at once.
Jedite thought grimly.
Seeing that the girl wasn't responding to his question,
Jedite prompted, "Well? Tell me your identity!"
As if to comply to Jedite's order, a strong, yet sudden,
gust of wind blew the mask away from Serena's face. Jedite
followed it with his eyes as it floated toward the ground,
then focused back to the girl's face. He looked into the
very surprised face of... Serena.
"S-Serena?! Th-That was you I danced with?!"
Serena blushed as she stared at him.
"Well, sir, fair is fair. I'd like to know who you are
too."
"Very well..." Reaching up with his gloved hand, Jedite
removed his mask.
"J-Jedite?"
Serena thought dazedly.
"Um, well, you'd better go take care of Endymion, he
seems to be very sick."
"I'll take him to the physican at once."
"I just want you to ask you one thing."
Puzzledly Jedite asked, "What is it?"
"Please don't tell him it was me."
Jedite thought.
"Certainly. You have my word."
"Thank you."
Jedite watched Serena slowly walk away. He watched her
retreating figure until he could no longer see her moonlit
form; his eyes drifted to the ground catching sight of her
mask. Picking it up, he saw a burned mark on the mask
in the shape of a crescent moon.
"The Moon symbol! But, it's just a myth, isn't it?"
~*~*~*~
At the physician's office:
"Well, General Jedite, he seems to be perfectly fine
except for extreme drousiness. It's like he was magically
healed or something."
Jedite shook
himself to the healer's words.
"It's just as well, I don't think he would be too happy
being forced to stay in bed." Jedite gave a half smile
at the very thought. The physician, who knew the Prince
very well, also grinned at the thought.
"Well, I must go tend to the many duties that us generals
have. Thank you."
"Sure thing."
Jedite thought, fingering
the sequenced mask in his hand, He put the mask in his pocket.
~*~*~*~
Serena walked among the moonlit path toward her quarters.
She smiled knowing that she would soon see a very
enthusiastic Beryl.
Reaching the door, she opened it and walked inside.
Sitting on the bed, she took
out her odangos and brushed her hair out *non-Beryl* style.
Finishing that, she prepared to get ready for bed.
~*~*~*~
About an hour later, an extremely happy Beryl came toward
the trainees' quarters. She was practically glowing.
Giggling, she opened her door and saw Serena in her
nightdress putting her gown away in her trunk. It
puzzled her almost at once why her friend was
home so early, and ready for bed at that!
"Serena, why are you home so early?"
"Well, hello to you too!" Serena teased. "I didn't feel
like staying there, so I left early."
"Oh."
Beryl thought. Knowing
Serena, Beryl knew she wouldn't want to talk about it, so
she let it drop.
"I might as well get ready for bed too. G'night, Serena."
"'Night, Beryl."
~*~*~*~
The next morning, Prince Endymion felt wonderful. Despite
his ill feeling last night, he was the total opposite this
morning.
Getting ready for training that day, he wore his usual
breeches and loose-fitting top.
He grinned.
Pulling on his boots he jogged down palace steps and he set
out at a good pace toward the training grounds. Reaching his
destination, he found the normal groups of trainees in groups
talking amongst themselves. The most popular topic, it seemed,
was the girl he had danced with. The gosip made sure to mention
the supposed Princess' beauty. Also talking amongst themselves
were his four generals.
Sneaking up behind them, he mananged to hear part of the
conversation. Jedite was talking.
"...Serena was the girl Prince Endymion was dancing
with. It seems that he had a little too much punch
and had to leave early..."
Shocked, Endymion's immediate reaction was to look for
Serena. He found her approaching with Beryl. Walking
up to her, he immediately started to tease her.
"So, the mighty warrior Serena was that supposed princess
last night? I should have guessed, only you would choose
to be that different."
Hearing the loud voice of the Prince, most of the trainees
surrounded the two. Knowing how the two hated each other,
they hoped it wouldn't be too violent a fight.
Serena looked in shock at Endymion.
Seeing him amongst the
crowd, she looked at him accusingly. He returned her
gaze with an expression as shocked as her own.
"How in the world did you find that 'interesting'
hairstyle? You looked like you had dumplings on your head!"
That comment got a few laughs from it. Serena, felt
her eyes slowly fill with tears.
thought Serena desperately as she tried to blink
back tears.
"Now I've really got a nickname that suits you-Odango Atama!"
That comment brought more laughs and chuckles from the crowd.
Endymion continued to taunt Serena. Finally, the dam of
tears that she had fought to hold back broke. Endymion
stopped immediately. In the two years he had been with her,
the Prince had never seen her cry. Not even in the
fiercest of the training.
The tears, now flowing freely, ran down Serena's face.
She ran without a word into her lodgings toward the center
of the camp. Concerned, Endymion ran after her, leaving the
shocked generals and other trainees behind.
~*~*~*~
Serena
thought, unaware of how much Endymion's opinion meant
to her.
Serena ran into her room and collapsed on her bed, her
sobs racking her sturdy frame. She curled up on the bed
in a fetal postition.
The door opened quietly enough that Serena didn't hear it
amongst her wild crying.
Endymion noted.
He walked soundlessly up to the girl and laid a hand on
her shoulder. Serena gasped as she looked into the
concerned blue eyes of the Prince. The sorrow in her
eyes quickly turned to anger.
"How could you, Prince Endymion?" her voice was a mixture
of anger and a touch of sorrow.
"You mocked my hopes and dreams; the person I was and the
person I had to leave behind to come to this forsaken
planet. You, who have had everything you want, mock those
who have none. And on top of that, you do it in front of
the entire camp." Her voice had now gone to a low, hatefilled
whisper.
"I-I'm sorry, Serena. I didn't mean..."
His words were cut off by another entering the room.
Beryl ran in out of breath. Seeing the Prince next to
Serena, she quickly strode up next to the two.
Serena, overcome by more emotion, started crying anew.
Hugging her friend tightly, Beryl turned to glare at the
shocked Prince. Her green eyes narrowed in anger.
"Get out, Prince Endymion. You have hurt my best friend
enough."
"But I..."
"Get out." Her voice had lowered and was now threatening.
The Prince reluctantly left Beryl to comfort Serena.
End of Chapter 4.
~*~*~*~
Author's Notes:
This section took a while in coming. Sorry about that!
There is some credit due for this story. Here it is:
The fact that Endymion became drunk was inspired
by a story called "Never Let Me Go" by Lianne. It
was sweet with a touch of humor. Read it! (You saps
will love it!)
Sere-chan's emotional speech to Endymion was written
by my friend May (edited by me :)). Thank you, May-chan!
-Hopefully soon,
Daine